Canada's diamond industry is currently worth over 2 billion dollars (2007). At the time this film was made (1996), diamond mining was in its exploration phase and did not require any type of environmental assessment. This excerpt describes the predicted environmental impacts of the development of Canada's first diamond mine (now named Ekati).

The Barrens Quest is the moving story of one man's search to locate the fabled breeding grounds of a near extinct bird--the Eskimo Curlew. The camera follows naturalist Joachim Obst as he treks through the breathtaking landscape of a pristine wilderness that has been marked for large-scale mineral exploration and development. The Eskimo Curlew symbolizes the fate awaiting all creatures of Canada's northern tundra. In capturing the stark, austere beauty of this land, where earth meets sky in an uninterrupted horizon, and clear waters mirror the solemn passage of caribou, The Barrens Quest makes a compelling case for planned conservation in one of the last unspoiled wilderness regions left in the world.